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Food

Hot Cross Buns Recipe

These hot cross buns from Bien Cuit's executive chef Justin Binnie offer a good way to try flavors in a simple enriched dough. If you don't have pecans or orange blossom water, swap them out for other nuts, seeds, herbs, and flavorings.
Hot Cross Buns Recipe
Photo courtesy of Bien Cuit.

Ingredients

for the buns:
10 ½ ounces|300 grams bread flour
½ cup|120 ml whole milk
3 ounces|90 grams eggs
3 grams dry active yeast
⅓ ounce|9 grams kosher salt
1 ⅓ ounces|38 grams granulated sugar
4 ¼ ounces|120 grams unsalted butter, softened
1 ounce|30 grams pecans, chopped and toasted
1 ounce|30 grams currants
¼ ounce|8 ml orange blossom water

For the confectioner's glaze:
8 ⅔ ounces|250 grams confectioner's sugar
1 ¾ ounces|50 ml lemon juice

Directions

  1. In a stand mixer on low speed, mix together the yeast, milk, eggs, salt, sugar, and flour until fully incorporated.
  2. Increase the mixer's speed to develop the gluten in the dough (about 4 minutes).
  3. Add softened butter. Mix until fully incorporated.
  4. In a separate bowl, mix together chopped and toasted pecans, currants, and orange blossom water.
  5. Add the mixture to the dough and incorporate on low speed.
  6. Transfer dough to an oiled bowl, and let rest for 2 hours.
  7. After two hours, divide the dough into 30-gram pieces and shape into rounds.
  8. Place dough rounds on a parchment-lined sheet pan.
  9. Proof until doubled in size, about 2 hours.
  10. Bake in an oven set at 400ºF until golden brown (about 12 minutes).
  11. While the buns are baking, combine the confectioner's sugar and lemon juice in a bowl.
  12. After the buns are cool, pipe crosses on top of them with the confectioner's glaze. Serve and enjoy.

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